Symbolize (attribute values)
No longer maintained
Please check this other gems:
Mongoid
https://github.com/thetron/mongoid-enum
ActiveModel & POROs
https://github.com/brainspec/enumerize
This plugin introduces an easy way to use symbols for values of attributes. Symbolized attributes return a ruby symbol (or nil) as their value and can be set using :symbols or "strings".
Install
Gem
gem install symbolize
Gemfile
gem 'symbolize'
About
Just use "symbolize :attribute" in your model, and the specified attribute will return symbol values and can be set using symbols (setting string values works, which is important when using forms).
On schema DBs, the attribute should be a string (varchar) column.
Usage
ActiveRecord:
class Contact < ActiveRecord::Base
symbolize :kind, :in => [:im, :mobile, :email], :scopes => true
Mongoid:
class Contact
include Mongoid::Symbolize
symbolize :kind, :in => [:im, :mobile, :email], :scopes => true
Other examples:
symbolize :os, :in => {
:linux => "Linux",
:mac => "Mac OS X"
}, :scopes => true
# Allow blank
symbolize :gui, :in => [:gnome, :kde, :xfce], :allow_blank => true
# Don`t i18n
symbolize :browser, :in => [:firefox, :opera], :i18n => false, :methods => true
# Scopes
symbolize :angry, :in => [true, false], :scopes => true # AR
symbolize :angry, :type => Boolean, :scopes => true # Mongoid
# Don`t validate
symbolize :lang, :in => [:ruby, :js, :c, :erlang], :validate => false
# Default
symbolize :kind, :in => [:admin, :manager, :user], :default => :user
in/within
You can provide a hash like for values allowed on the field, e.g.: {:value => "Human text"} or an array of keys to run i18n on. Booleans are also supported. See below.
Validate
Set to false to avoid the validation of the input. Useful for a dropdown with an "other" option textfield.
symbolize :color, :in => [:green, :red, :blue], :validate => false
There's is also allow_(blank|nil): As you expect.
method
If you provide the method option, some fancy boolean methods will be added: In our User example, browser has this option, so you can do:
@user.firefox?
@user.opera?
Booleans
Its possible to use boolean fields also. Looks better in Mongoid.
ActiveRecord
symbolize :switch, :in => [true, false]
Mongoid
symbolize :switch, :type => Boolean
... switch: "true": On "false": Off "nil": Unknown
i18n
If you don`t provide a hash with values, it will try i18n:
activerecord:
or
mongoid:
symbolizes:
user:
gui:
gnome: Gnome Desktop Enviroment
kde: K Desktop Enviroment
xfce: XFCE4
gender:
female: Girl
male: Boy
In some cases, if automatic lookup failes, you may want to try to translate it manully
user.get_gender_text # here gender is symbolized field
You can skip i18n lookup with :i18n => false
symbolize :style, :in => [:rock, :punk, :funk, :jazz], :i18n => false
Scopes
With the ':scopes => true' option, you may filter/read/write easily:
User.gender(:female).each ... # => User.where({ :gender => :female })
Now, if you provide the ':scopes => :shallow' option, fancy named scopes will be added to the class directly. In our User example, gender has male/female options, so you can do:
User.female.each ... # => User.where({ :gender => :female })
You can chain named scopes as well:
User.female.mac => User.all :conditions => { :gender => :female, :so => :mac }
For boolean colums you can use
User.angry => User.find(:all, :conditions => { :angry => true })
User.not_angry => User.find(:all, :conditions => { :angry => false })
( or with_[attribute] and without_[attribute] )
Default
As the name suggest, the symbol you choose as default will be set in new objects automatically. Mongoid only for now.
symbolize :mood, :in => [:happy, :sad, :euphoric], :default => (MarvinDay ? :sad : :happy)
User.new.mood # It may print :happy
Rails Form Example
You may call Class.get_<attribute>_values anywhere to get a nice array.
Works nice with dropdowns. Examples:
class Coffee
symbolize :genetic, :in => [:arabica, :robusta, :blend]
end
- form_for(@coffee) do |f|
= f.label :genetic
= f.select :genetic, Coffee.get_genetic_values
Somewhere on a view:
= select_tag :kind, Coffee.get_genetic_values
Specs
Run the adapter independently:
$ rspec spec/symbolize/mongoid_spec.rb
$ rspec spec/symbolize/active_record_spec.rb
Notes
This fork: http://github.com/nofxx/symbolize